Venezuelans vote in crucial regional elections

Venezuelans headed to the polls on Sunday in regional elections seen as a crucial test for President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition alike after months of deadly street protests failed to unseat him.

Public opinion surveys predicted that the opposition would win a majority of state governorships despite alleged government efforts to suppress a high turnout through last-minute changes in voting places and other tactics.

An estimated 18 million people are eligible to elect governors to four-year terms in 23 states. Voting got off to a slow start at 6:00 am (local time), when the country's more than 13,500 voting stations opened, AFP journalists on the ground reported.

The opposition Democratic Union Roundtable (MUD) coalition called Saturday on Maduro to immediately expel "Nicaraguan advisers" who it said had been brought to Venezuela to carry out electoral fraud.

It said they were specialists in abruptly changing the sites of voting places, "a technique used by the Nicaraguan government to disconcert opposition voters."

The MUD has cried foul over changes to the locations of 274 polling stations in 16 states from areas where they polled strongly in the 2015 legislative elections.

"If the vote were to be free and fair, the MUD would likely win between 18 and 21 states," an analysis by the Eurasia Group said.
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